Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII was the first release for the Playstation, and the advance in graphics and gameplay brought new popularity to this great series.

You play as Cloud, a member of a team of environmental bandits. This rebel group is trying to stop Shinra, an evil corporation, from stealing all of the planet's energy, "Mako".

The leap in graphics between Final Fantasy VI and this one is pretty amazing. Where FF6 was a 2D game with 16 bit graphics, this one was fully rendered 3D graphics. You move your polygonal character through a richly painted "mural" of a world. The sound quality is also much better.

Along the way, Cloud is joined by Barret, who looks and talks like Mr. T from the A Team. Tifa Lockheart and Aeris Gainsborough also join him - both are characters that are found on the FF/Disney blend Kingdom Hearts.

Of course there is a Wedge and Biggs, named after the Star Wars characters. In fact, one of Biggs' early lines is almost straight from the movie. There's a Cid too - he's an airship pilot. This is the Cid they used in Kingdom Hearts.

Finally you reach and meet Sepiroth, and his many forms. The game is very rewarding to play, even though its graphics have been surpassed by later versions of Final Fantasy.